Top 20 Tips For User-Friendly Blog

Introduction

When you are starting to blog its important to know basic understanding of how you should write blog. If you are beginner you need to be careful about many things like simple design, good fonts, colors, organizing contents so that its easy to understand and avoiding jargons. So this blog post will be about basic blogging tips for beginners:

Blogging tips for beginners

Avoid Clutter

When it comes to designing a user-friendly blog, one of the most important rules to follow is to avoid clutter.

Clutter can be distracting and overwhelming, as well as difficult to navigate. 

Keep your design simple. 

A simple blog design makes it easier for readers to find the information they are looking for and easier for them to read your content.

Use fonts that are easy on eyes

When writing your blog, you should choose fonts that are easy to read. 

Your font size should be large enough to read comfortably and it is a good idea to pick fonts that are common to most browsers. 

It makes things easier on your viewers if they can easily read the text on your blog without having to squint or strain their eyes in any way. 

You should also make sure that the font you use compliments the overall design of your blog.

In addition, consider using different fonts for headings and body text as this will help make things look even more appealing.

Don’t use too many ads

When you’re monetizing your blog, it’s easy to get carried away with the ads.

Put one ad in the middle of a post, and you might be tempted to put another one on the side. You might even think about putting an ad at the top and bottom of every page or post so as not to miss any opportunities.

But having ads all over can actually backfire on you. 

  • It distracts users, which means people won’t read as much and will reach your ads less often. 
  • It increases page load times if you have too many images in too many places across the blog. 
  • Too many ads are not relevant to your readers, they’ll just be annoying for people who visit your site.

Remember that fewer is more when it comes to online advertising; big-name brands like Coca-Cola only use a few choice words in advertisements because they know that more than that just becomes noise.

Contents should be organized into pages or sections

Begin by grouping content within pages or sections.

  • Create a table of contents that lists every page and section on your blog. 
  • Under each page or section, list all the topics and subtopics in that category.
  • Use headings and subheadings to break up long blocks of text so readers can find what they need quickly.
  • Add a search bar so people can look for specific information without having to dig through your website.

Get rid of auto-play anything

  • Don’t force the reader to listen to audio or watch a video.
  • Not only will they be pissed, if people want to listen to something or watch something, they’ll find it themselves.
  • No pop-ups.
  • Don’t force the reader to click on anything!

Minimize the number of tabs and links

  • You want to create a blog that’s user-friendly, so try not to overwhelm readers with too many choices. If you want your readers to go somewhere specific, only put links on the pages that are absolutely necessary. In general, it’s better to keep things simple by limiting your links.
  • Clearly label all of your links and pages. You don’t want users getting confused or having trouble finding what they need.
  • Keep your home page simple, with a clear title, some links to important pages on the blog (such as a contact page), and maybe an email sign-up form and search bar at the top of the sidebar. 
  • You should be using call-to-action buttons throughout your blog and website as well, which will help encourage users to click through and find more content they enjoy reading!

Use Share Buttons on Each Page

If you’re like most people who use the Internet, you probably look down on blogs that don’t have social share buttons. 

You want to see that a blog’s content is being shared and appreciated by other people, and social share buttons help show this.

 And there are many reasons why you should use these buttons on your blog too!

  • First of all, it makes it easier for readers to share your content across their own networks, which results in more exposure for your blog.
  • Second of all, having active social share buttons also helps build trust with new visitors as they can see that your content has been shared and recommended by others.
  • Thirdly (or lastly), when a visitor clicks one of these social media icons they usually go to another page where they must enter their login information before sharing anything on Facebook or Twitter etc. 

Use few colors that blend well together

Don’t use more than three colors on your website. 

If you’re using a design tool that allows you to pick one main color, a secondary color, and two accent colors, that’s all you should really need.

  • Do your best to choose colors that are pleasant and easy on the eyes.
  • Don’t go for high contrast if it doesn’t fit the mood of the site. 

You want people to be able to read clearly and easily, but if the whole thing is glaringly bright or hard on the eyes then people won’t stick around for long enough.

Also, make sure your entire site has a consistent color scheme.

Don’t try switching up background or text colors from page to page as this will make each page a separate entity. 

The goal is for people to instinctively know they’re still on your site as they move from one page to another. Reduce any unnecessary friction by keeping things smooth and seamless instead!

Images should help, not hinder the user

  • An image should always be relevant to the text. If you have a picture of a cat and there’s no mention of it in the post, what’s the point?
  • Images should be high quality and well-composed. Make sure that they are crisp, clear, with good lighting, and that they aren’t pixelated or blurry.
  • Images should be captioned. Explain why it’s there and what it means to the article. This is especially important for screenshots or infographics — don’t leave your readers guessing.
  • Make sure images are sized for the layout of the page. You can do this using CSS so that images adjust based on whether it is viewed on a desktop or mobile device.

Be careful with pop-ups

We love pop-ups too. 

They’re great for getting information to users that they may not know is available on your site or blog, but there’s a fine line between using pop-ups to your advantage and being annoying as hell. 

Pop-ups should not hinder the user experience in any way or take away from reading content on your page. 

They should be used as an added bonus, not forced down the reader’s throat.

For example, you could put a pop-up box at the bottom of a post asking if people would like to subscribe to weekly email updates from you by entering their email address into an opt-in form. 

This is fine because it doesn’t get in the way of reading your content, and it gives users a choice whether or not they want to sign up for more information from you.

If you are going to use pop-ups on your site though, make sure that they don’t appear too frequently and don’t block the content! 

Remember: Pop-ups can be useful when used properly – just don’t abuse them or else they will start hurting more than helping!

Be consistent in the use of language

Take a look at your tone: is it consistent? 

Is it too formal? Are you making jokes or using slang, but they don’t fit the subject matter or your audience?

Do you make frequent jokes? 

Are they funny enough to justify their inclusion in the content? If not, take them out. This is one case where a joke can fall flat!

Finally, do you tend toward using emotion (happy face emojis) or avoiding it? 

While it’s important to strike an emotional chord with your readers in certain situations—for example when addressing a sensitive topic like identity, loneliness, or anxiety—it’s not always necessary to lean on our emotions. Sometimes just being informational is enough!

Be polite and friendly

Polite and friendly is a bit of a catch-all phrase that can be applied to all aspects of user experience. It means to be helpful, respectful, courteous, and use proper language.

  • Be true to your brand while also considering the needs and expectations of your users. 
  • A playful tone may not be appropriate, but even “serious” brands can make your content more approachable by showing personality.
  • If you ask users for information, make sure you give them good reasons why you need it and how it will benefit them. 
  • Don’t leave readers confused about what will happen next after they click a button.

Be brief is important blogging tip

Once upon a time, I read an article that took around 3,000 words to make a single point.

The article was so long and complicated that halfway through it, I forgot what the author was even trying to say. Even worse, it wasn’t terribly well-written.

Many web users are busy people with many things on their minds. They don’t have time to sit there and try to decipher your writing when they could go somewhere else and get information in half the time. 

You should always strive for clarity, even if it means making your sentences a bit shorter or simplifying your voice.

 After all, simpler is better when it comes to user experience.

If you can’t explain something in one sentence or two sentences at the most, you haven’t got the idea clear enough yet. 

Don’t waste readers’ time by repeating yourself or rambling on about points that don’t need further elaboration. 

Instead of tackling one main point per paragraph or section, stick with only one key concept per page of writing whenever possible—you really can’t be too brief when it comes to online writing!

Be funny

  • Make sure the humor is appropriate for the subject and your audience.
  • Don’t try so hard that it becomes annoying.
  • Don’t use humor to mask bad writing. If you’re not being funny, own up to it and give people good content instead.
  • Avoid offensive humor. But don’t be afraid to be a little edgy while you’re at it.

Use language everyone can understand

Remember that your readers are here because they want to understand what you are trying to say. Yours is a language that should be understandable and easy for all readers, which is why it’s important to use simple and readable words.

Avoid jargon or overly technical language. At first, these may seem like good ideas, but they will soon make your blog hard to understand for everyone else who has come across it.

Most people don’t have the time to write long essays about everything you describe on your blog; So focus on common problems and give clear solutions.

Make it easier to read

Use bullet points

  • Bullet points make it easier to see what’s important in a blog.
  • It also helps a reader skim through your content.
  • They should be used whenever you want to list out something,
  • It helps in highlighting important things
  • Bullets are useful to summarize takeaways.

Use subheadings

  • Subheadings allows readers to scan your blog and find the part that interests them the most. 
  • Subheadings allow bloggers to create an outline of their blog and break up long passages of text into more readable chunks. 
  • It improve readability by providing visual cues that help people identify where topics change or transition from one idea to another.

If you’re not sure if people will like what they see when they get there—say hello with an image!

–   Use short paragraphs

The ideal paragraph length is two sentences, but three sentences are definitely acceptable. 

Five sentences can be too much unless there’s some sort of dramatic reveal at the end of it.

Long blocks of text do not work well on blogs because it makes them difficult to read.

Break up large chunks into smaller digestible pieces that aren’t overwhelming for users! 

Offer help and support in the comments section

Take time to help others. Help when you can, but don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t have all the answers. If you can’t answer a question, direct them to where they might find what they need. 

Be polite and friendly, and make sure that your tone is helpful rather than judgmental.

people are more likely to seek out your advice if you come across as friendly and approachable.

The most important thing is to make sure that you’re absolutely satisfied with the final result before publishing. 

There’s nothing worse than finding a typo or a lack of clarity after clicking the “Publish” button. 

Here are some additional tips:

  • Proofread once, twice, and three times. Read your whole post from beginning to end without making any edits. Then read it again starting from the last sentence and working backward. You’d be surprised how much this helps you catch things you missed the first time around.
  • Remove yourself from your work: One way to do this is by reading your blog aloud – away from your computer screen! This will force you to slow down and focus on every sentence one at a time while also allowing you to hear any awkward phrasing or sentences that don’t seem natural when spoken aloud
  • Get feedback: Have a friend or co-worker read your post before publishing it. Sometimes, we can get so close to our own writing that we miss mistakes that another person would easily pick up on
  • Don’t overuse text abbreviations and emoticons on your blog posts– use them sparingly and only when appropriate.

Text abbreviations and emoticons can be helpful when you want to shorten a message or make it more casual.

They’re great way to convey the tone.

Emoticons are incredibly popular. Emoticons are fun because they allow you to add emotion that may otherwise be lacking in plain text. 

For example, the phrase “Thanks” on its own may seem impersonal and unfriendly.

But “Thanks :)” gives readers the impression that you’re sincere and friendly.

As an additional benefit, emoticons can help prevent readers from misinterpreting your meaning. People unfamiliar with them often get confused by text shorthand such as “lol,” which usually means “Laughing Out Loud,” but is sometimes used to mean “Lots Of Love.” 

By adding an emoticon after it like this: lol 😉 readers won’t misunderstand your meaning.

When using emoticons, remember to use them sparingly though — no more than one or two per post! 

You don’t want your blog posts looking like you’re chatting in a chat room! As with all forms of slang, try not to overdo it with emoticons either.

If everything sounds informal, then nothing will seem casual!

Get rid of irrelevant links

It’s not a good idea to have links going off to other sites that have nothing to do with what you’re writing about.

Don’t link to other pages on your own site that are unrelated since they can be distracting.

Respond to comments within 24 hours or less

It’s important to respond to comments on your blog posts and social media in a timely manner. 

This gives readers the impression that you are engaged with them, not just pushing out content for the sake of it. 

  • You can do this by checking your comments regularly.
  • Setting up email alerts for new comments.
  • Setting up comment moderation if you need some extra time to read and respond.

Add social media sharing buttons

Add social media sharing buttons to your blog so it can be shared easily to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

There are many plugins that make it easy for you to add social media sharing buttons.

Make sure your blog has a good share count. It helps in getting more shares and gives an impression that the blog is worth reading.

Include graphics in your posts

Human beings are visual creatures.

We’re used to taking in a large amount of information from the world around us, and we use our eyes to do it. 

When people read your blog, they don’t want to see just words on a page. They want visuals. 

There are three main ways that you can use visuals to enhance your blog:

–   Photos

–   Infographics

–   Videos

User-friendliness is about being mindful of the reader’s experience

User-friendliness is about being mindful of the reader’s experience.

  • Is it obvious what the user should do next?
  • What distractions are there that might pull him away?
  • How can you make your blog welcoming, organized and understandable?

Avoid annoyances.

Users will put up with a lot, but they won’t forgive frequent pop-ups or auto-play videos. Don’t force them to click to close things that should be easily dismissible.

Make sure your design is guiding the user where you want him to go.

If you have an important CTA or link, use whitespace and contrast to make it stand out from everything else on the page.

Conclusion

I hope you like the blog post! It’s important to know the important concepts while blogging.

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